A Death Note Fanfiction
by Dapplepath
Summary: A girl finds herself sucked into a virtual reality game that her mother created based on an anime called Death Note. She knows exactly how to get out of the game, simply get Light or L to defeat the other, but does she really want to give up a world where her actions have no consequences and death is just a reset button? Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note... duh.
1. Superfan

**Hello everyone and thanks for clicking on my story! I am sure it was because of my sparkling summary. Honestly, I am writing this story purely for my own entertainment and you should't bother reading it, but you do whatever you want.**

 **Just a quick note, Elle is not supposed to be me, she is just a character that I made up.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Death Note. Though I don't think anyone ever thought I did.**

 **Chapter 1: Superfan**

I sprawled out on my bed, staring at the shadows thrown across the ceiling. My homework lay scattered across the floor. I lazily rolled onto my stomach when I heard the front door open, a voice called up the stairs, my mom, "Ella! I am going to the grocery store, be back in half an hour, 'kay?"

"Yeah, fine!" I hollered back, twisting a strand of my messy brown hair around my finger. When I heard the door slam shut I pulled my laptop towards me and logged on, absently browsing my favorite sites and putting on some music.

I paused in my scrolling, closed my eyes and enjoyed the music. The frantic beat hesitated for a split second before it plunged into a heavy bass drop, vibrating through the air from the subwoofer in the corner of my room.

"Knock, knock, you weirdo," said my sister from outside my door. I sighed and turned down the volume.

"Ya' need something Cass?" I asked. She opened the door and stepped in. My sister is two years younger than me, fourteen.

She brushed her long, silky brown hair behind her ear, "Dude, I can't find the freaking Advil."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "And you, what, want me to look for it?"

She just about rolled her eyes, but seemed to think better of it, "Uh, yeah, if you could… please."

"Fine," I grumbled, pausing the music and getting up. I walked past her and into the hall, music trickled from her room to. I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the upbeat breathy female singing about true love, "You need better music taste, dear sister."

"No, you do," she said, annoyed, following after me. "There isn't even a melody to the music you listen to."

"If my music has to have a melody then your music has to have some bass, I mean, really," I drawled scornfully.

She just sniffed primly, "At least I have had my first kiss."

Blood rushed to my cheeks, "What does that have to do with anything."

"Well," she began, and though my back was to her, I could just hear the smirk on her face, "Maybe if you listened to more beautiful… feminine music, you would have ended up with more _femininity_ yourself."

I spun around to face her, her prefect rosebud lips were curled up in a little smile at having thrown me off so much, "Find your own dam Advil, ya little brat." I growled at her.

"But Elle! I'm having cramps!"

"Too bad, princess, "I snapped and went to the nearest room, slamming the door closed behind me, not even really caring that it was not my room.

Here I was at sixteen, and my fourteen year old sister had more curves than me, and she knew it. "At least I won't have an STD by the time I am eighteen," I spat, as if my sister could still hear me.

I flipped the light on; I was in my mom's room. The walls and carpet were a pale green; papers were piled on her desk- the novel she was writing. I frowned, what was I supposed to do in here? I couldn't go back to my room yet, I would have to walk past Cass, and she would for sure be laughing at me.

With a sigh I shuffled over to the dresser and opened the jewelry box sitting in top. I sifted through the glittering necklaces, lifting them up so that the light glittered off of the gems, though whether they were real or fake I had no idea. Once that had lost interest I went to investigate the closet, hey, I am nosy, nothing wrong with that… right?

I pulled open the closet door… clothes, duh, and shoes. I absently flipped through the fancier dresses towards the back when something caught my eye, a large, battered cardboard box. I kneeled down and pulled it open. Inside was… a bunch of books? I picked up one, "Death Note Volume 1" read the front. Huh. I set it on the floor next to me and poked through the rest of the series before finding a binder.

"Death Note 3" read the paper in the front of the binder; I furrowed my eyebrows as I flipped it open. One tap was labeled' Fanart 'another was 'Fanfiction'. Was Death Note some sort of Anime?

I snorted, "Mom was a weeb." I set the fan binder aside and continued to look through the box. It appeared to just be more anime books… what were those called, magna or something? Just as I was about to put the books back something at the bottom of the box caught my eyes, a flash drive? Wow, people haven't used those things in ages. As I picked it up I head the front door slam. My eyes widened in horror. I shoved the stuff back in the box, leaving out the flash drive and the first book of the series. I grabbed those two things and bolted out of the room, down the hallway and into my room, my heart hammering.

"Cass, Elle! I'm home!" Mom's voice rang through the house.

"Okay!" I shouted. Then I locked the door and sat down on my bed. I set the book on my lap. Oh! Manga! That is what anime books are called. I grinned to myself, and then my grin faded, not sure if knowing that was something to be proud of.

I scooted over to my laptop and exited out of all the tabs, then I plugged in the flash drive. I drummed my fingers on my thigh impatiently as I waited for the file to open up. It was probably just some bad fanfiction Mom had written… I was torn between gagging and giggling at the thought of my mother writing some steamy, gay romance. Hey, I have been on the internet enough to know what kind of stuff fanfiction is.

But when the file opened up it wasn't a word document at all. "Character Creation" read the title on the screen, below it was a male and a female anime body template.

Well… this was unexpected, I shrugged and clicked female. Then I was supposed to pick hair and eye color, as well as any special features I wanted. Umm… purple hair, gold eyes, and cat ears, why not? Then I clicked _CONTINUE_ but a message popped up on my screen.

 **Don't be a Mary-Sue, Jesus**

"What the hell is a Mary-Sue?" I pulled up an internet tab.

" _A female fanfiction character who is so perfect as to be annoying."_ –Urban Dictionary

"Oh…" I frown, "What makes this character creator think my character is supposed to be perfect?" With a sigh I went back and began reselecting what I wanted. My mouse hovered over brown hair, my natural hair color, what could be wrong with that… it was so boring though. Hoping it wouldn't be a problem with whatever the crap this program was that I was using, I instead selected black hair. I also picked my natural eye color, dark gray-blue, and I left the cat ears though, a little bit out of spite because of my rejected original design.

"Fingers crossed," I whispered, and clicked _CONTINUE._ A message popped up again.

 **Whatever,**

 **Good enough.**

I was getting sassed by a freaking computer, okay then… Actually, if I thought about it, I was being indirectly sassed by my mother. Not much new there, to be honest.

Suddenly the screen of my computer flashed a blinding neon blue color. I flinched away from the computer with a yelp of surprise. My eyes blinking rapidly against the momentary blindness, "Probably have some sort of freaky virus now", I muttered and put a hand beside me on the bed to steady myself.

I opened my eyes… I was no longer in my room. I was in a hotel room; Beige walls, carpet, and curtains. I was sitting on the bed, my computer and the book still in my lap. I sat there frozen for a moment. I sat my computer on the bed and got up shakily, walking over to the window. I yanked open the curtains and my mouth dropped open. Towering buildings of glass loomed up to the sky, the sidewalk below was packed with dark haired people, cars and bikes clogged up the road, all of the signs were in another language, Chinese or Japanese I guessed. "Umm…" was my initial intelligent response.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes in an attempt to center myself, "Where the hell _am I_?"

 **Thanks for reading. Comment, favorite, follow, or leave without a trace, it is up to you.**

 **~Dapplepath**


	2. The Game

**Welcome to Chapter Two, you wierdo, love ya and hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2: The Game**

I opened my eyes again, staring out the window I played with a piece of my hair absently as my mind struggled to wrap itself around whatever had happened. Wait a second! I stopped twirling my hair and pulled the strand in front of my face, confused. It was black? I pulled more strands forward, it was all black!? I spun back to face the room, I needed a mirror! My eyes caught the door of the bathroom; I ran over to it and pulled the door open, sliding to a stop in front of the mirror, my chest heaving.

My hair was black; it was true, but- my breath caught in my throat. Black hair was not the only new development. A pair of large, black cat ears was stuck to the top of my head. I reached up; they had to be fake, right? I ran my fingers over the silky material, my hand trembling as I registered the feeling and sound of fingers on the ears, on my ears. I took my hand away from the cat ears and felt through the hair at the side of my head, where I knew my real ears should be, but nothing was there.

Nothing else appeared to have changed. Other than the ears and the hair, the same girl I always saw in the mirror was staring back at me. My pale skin, heart shaped face and heavy eyebrows over large eyes, which were slightly more blue than normal. My hair was still the same as well, other than the color, messy layers ending just below my shoulders, long bangs swept to the side, partially covering one of my eyes.

I took another deep breath to try and keep myself from hyperventilating. Okay, so I had gotten the features that I put into that character creator, was this some sort of weird dream? Maybe I had some sort of seizure when my computer screen had started flashing. I forced myself away from the mirror and went back into the other room.

"Ding!" My eyes jerked to my laptop on the bed, "Ding! Ding, ding, ding!"

I walked over and sat down on the bed, pulling the laptop to me. A chat box had popped up and was currently being spammed with messages.

 _"Elle! Can you see this?"_

 _"Respond to me!"_

 _"Dammit, Elle, this is mom! I need you to respond!"_

My fingers hovered uncertainly above the keyboard before typing. _"Mom?"_

Her response was instantaneous, _"Thank God, are you okay?"_

 _"Yeah, what is going on?"_ I type back; it takes her a little longer to respond this time.

 _"This is going to sound crazy, but the flash drive you plugged in activated a virtual reality program that I created. You can think of it as a hyper-realistic video game."_

Confusion creased my face; I involuntarily flattened my ears back, _"So you are saying that this is all real? I am not dreaming?"_

 _"No, you are not dreaming. I created it based on an anime called Death Note; the only way to get out of the game is to complete it, with either L or Kira winning."_

 _"Who are L and Kira? What happens if I don't complete it? Can I die here?"_

 _"You cannot die, at least not for real, if you die in the game you will reset to the beginning, where you are right now. You don't really need to understand the plot. Just don't tell anyone your real name. I will tell you how to get out of there as quickly as possible, okay? Don't leave your computer."_

I shoved the computer away from me and ran my hand down my face. How was this happening? None of this made sense, I never really played video games, but even I knew that no virtual reality this realistic was even close to existing. I looked around the room, breathed in the smell of the laundry detergent used for the sheets, ran my hands over the fabric of my pants, feeling the seams and the slight coarseness of the fibers.

A new message popped up from my mom, along with a picture. The picture was of an anime boy. He had narrowed brown eyes and brown hair with bangs that fell artfully just above his eyes, he was wearing a white shirt and tie.

 _"This is Light (Kira) you need to find him and give him these names; L Lawliet, Mihael Kheel, and Nate River."_

 _"Okay… how do I find him?"_

 _"I am going to program a player-assistance NPC that I used when I first created the game, it will help you find Light."_

Maybe this is stupid, since it was a video game and nothing could actually happen to me, but I was scared. It all just felt so real.

 _"Why can't you just come in here?"_ I typed.

 _"It is a single player game, I might be able to program myself in, but it could take a few days, maybe even longer."_

I angrily rubbed at my eyes when tears started to form. _"Okay."_ I responded shortly.

 _"You are going to be fine, sweetheart."_

I scrolled back through our conversation. The entire thing was insane; all of this was beginning to sound like some poorly written science fiction. I frowned as something struck me, Elle, L… had my mother named me after a freaking anime character. I wondered if my sister was named after someone as well. Her name was Cassandra Michelle, but Mom always called her Cass…

"Ah!" I shouted, jerking away violently and falling off the bed when a person materialized out of thin air right next to me. I looked up at the person from my uncomfortable position on the floor. It was an emo boy, pale and thin with black hair combed forward over his face. He was sporting heavy eyeliner, a nose piercing and a lip piercing. His clothing was mostly black with some red accents.

And did I mention that he was also frikin' sexy as hell?

I stood up and coughed uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with his questioning gaze and instead turning the laptop to face me, a message from my mother greeted me.

 _"There you go. He should be able to help to some extent."_

 _"Umm… so why is he so… you know…?"_ I sent, unsure how to word it when talking to my mom.

 _"Oh, hahaha, I created him when I was a teenager. I was kinda into the whole emo thing at that point, lol."_

 _"Oh, haha, ok,"_ I shot back, glancing up at the boy who was looking around the room absently; his intense green eyes looked bored.

 _"Here is a map of the area you are in; I circled Light's house. Jared should be able to get you there fine. Take your computer with you and let me know if you have any problems, any questions?"_ A map materialized in my lap.

 _"No"_

 _"Okay, good luck, see you soon. You will be fine, I love you."_

 _"Love you too."_ I closed the computer, the hollow feeling of dread filling my stomach.

I turned to the boy and handed him the map, "You know how to get here?" I pointed to the spot circled in red. He looked at the map thoughtfully for a moment, I found myself mesmerized by the way he fiddled with hip lip piercing as he thought. I was shaken from my thoughts as he looked up at me, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't fuckin' know." He said, handing the paper back to me.

My mouth fell open, "Wh-what do you mean you don't know?"

He stood up, shoving his hands in the pockets of his ripped skinny jeans, a half smirk on his face, "Clearly when I say 'I don't know' what I mean is that I have no idea where that place is."

"Then what is the point of you!?" I snapped, wrinkling the map slightly in my tight grip.

A little pout formed on his lips and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But I'm sexy!"

"You're an idiot," I hissed, "I guess I will find my own way there." I picked up my computer and book and turned to the door.

"Hey, hold up a second," he put a hand on my shoulder, I spun around ready to yell at him, but he continued before I could, "Let me carry that for you," he slung a black backpack off of his shoulder and pulled my laptop and book from my arms and put them in the backpack. Then he handed me a red beanie, "To cover the ears." He said, reaching out to touch them. I swatted his hand away and grabbed the hat, pulling it on.

"Thanks," I grumbled, then turned my back on him again and walked out the door.

 **Cookies for anyone who knows who Cassandra Michelle (Cass) is named after! :)**

 **Comment, follow, favorite, or leave without a trace, it is up to you.**

 **~Dapplepath**


	3. Vacation Plans

**Welcome to chapter 3 my friends... I guess I can't really call you my friends at this point because I literally know nothing about you... whatever.**

 **Since no one left a review on the last chapter yet, no one gets cookies because no one guessed that Cassandra Michelle (Cass) is named that because of Castiel (Cas) who is played my Misha Collins on Supernatural. If you reviewed after this chapter was posted and guessed correctly then... nice job. *shrug***

 **Chapter 3: Vacation Plans**

Elevator music played softly in the background as we descended. I fought the ridiculous urge to create conversation with Jared to fill the awkward silence. I tried to convince myself that there was no reason for the silence to be awkward; Jared was not even a real person, for god's sake. He was a-a… what was it that Mom had called him?

"An NPC." He suggested.

"Right, yeah," I nodded gratefully to him.

"You're welcome."

…

WAIT A SECOND!

"You can read my freaking thoughts!" I shouted, glaring venomously up at him.

"Well, yeah, of course I can." He said, "Your thoughts are being translated into code right now, telling your body to do what your mind is thinking, I am just picking up on it as it goes past."

"Well… stop!" I growled, blushing as my mind immediately went to literally everything that I didn't want him to see.

He tipped his head to one side, smirking, "That is disgusting, did you really do that?"

My face was burning so much that it felt like it was swelling as I tried to shove the memories from my head, "Look," I spat, "I don't think this is going to work out. Give me that backpack."

"What?"

"Give me the backpack!" I demanded.

He shook his head, "Nah, it's mine."

I tried to grab it from his shoulder but he dodged away from me just as the elevator reached the lobby. I lunged for him as the doors slid open, but he slipped out and ran through the lobby. I chased after him, running out of the building. I burst out onto the sidewalk, people grumbled as I interrupted the flow of their walking. I looked around for Jared and caught sight of him. He was already on the other side of the street, wiggling his fingers at me tauntingly.

I glared daggers at him and drew my finger across my throat mouthing, "You are DEAD." He just grinned in response and I, seeing an opening in traffic, took off at a sprint across the street.

"Vraaaaaaa! Vraaaa!" screeched a loud, low car horn sounding like it was practically on top of me.

This was definitely not the best decision that I could have made, but I slowed down and glanced to my right, just in time to see the blur of a white and green bus as it slammed into my body. I heard bones crack, but barely felt anything before everything around me went black.

"GAAAAH!" I shouted as I jerked up! I toppled off of the bed and hit my head on the night stand, "Ouch! Dammit!" I clapped my hand to my head and staggered my feet. I was back in the beige colored hotel room.

"What just happened?" I groaned.

"You got hit by a bus." The muffled response came from the hallway. I gritted my teeth and walked over to the door, opening it slowly and calmly. Jared stood there, his hands in his pockets, grinning slightly. He didn't even have the grace to look sheepish for getting me hit by a fucking bus.

"I am not programmed to feel sheepish," he said. "But you can have this, after a chase like that I think you deserve it." He handed me the backpack.

If my thoughts could have been a color at that moment, they would have been red. My grip tightened around the strap of the backpack until my knuckles turned white.

"Sorry or whatever," said Jared, he pulled out a cellphone, "to 'make it up to you' I called a taxi, it will take us to Light's house."

"You mean you could do that the whole time!"

"Well, yeah…"

Whatever, I didn't even care anymore.

I walked out into the hall, gesturing for him to follow. We rode down in the elevator, my thoughts in an oddly calm state.

This time when we arrived on the ground floor and walked through the lobby I had the time to admire the complete blandness of the space before exiting the building. People bustled past me and him as we stood waiting for the car. Then something struck me.

"Hey, I don't know Japanese!" Some of the people walking past me gave me odd looks as I said this. Jared chuckled. "What are you laughing about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and adjusting my hat, wondering if my ears were showing, that would explain the odd looks.

"It is just that to them it sounds like you are speaking in Japanese, so you just said, 'I don't know Japanese' in perfect Japanese. And I wouldn't worry about it, everything is automatically translated to English for you, your mom didn't know Japanese's either."

"Oh," duh, I should have guessed that.

"Don't put yourself down. There is no way you would have guessed that." Jared responded kindly.

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment and all, but I would really appreciate if you didn't respond to my thoughts, okay?"

Jared shrugged as the car pulled up. We slid into the back seat and Jared handed the map to the man and said something, then we were on our way.

I felt a little bad that I was not doing more to help out. I quickly reminded myself that my only objective was to get out of here. But… I had to admit that the whole thing was kind of cool. I glanced out the window at the passing buildings that were getting smaller as we moved to the edge of the city. More than kind of cool, actually, I was amazing. I could literally do anything here and it wouldn't matter, there were no consequences for anything… Did I really want to leave so quickly?

Jared glanced over at me, about to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Instead he pulled out a pair of earbuds and an iPod, turned on some music and closed his eyes. I looked at him thoughtfully, I wondered if he could still see my thoughts when he wasn't looking or listening for them.

Your mom is fat! I shouted mentally. I have never kissed a boy! No response… I still didn't trust it, but it would have to be good enough.

I figured I would have a couple of days before my mom managed to get herself in here and pull me out… If I was going to hang out inside this game then I needed a place to stay. Should I head back to that hotel room? It would be easy; all I would have to do is die every time I wanted to go back.

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. No, I didn't want to do that. Plus if my mom came looking for me then she was likely to load to that spot first. I tried to think of another place that would work… what about this Light character's house? I mean, we were on our way there anyway and I vaguely remembered from looking at the fan art that he had a family, so it wouldn't be too sketchy for me to stay there.

How would I convince them to let me stay in the first place though? I had to think about that one for a little while.

"Hey, Jared," five minutes later I leaned over to him and tapped him on the shoulder, he pulled out his earbuds and turned to me. "Can you have the driver drop us off a block or so away from Light's house?" He looked confused for a second as he tried to decipher what I was getting at from my thoughts.

He frowned, "That is a stupid plan. Let's just do what your mom told you to do."

I rolled my eyes, "And here I thought you looked like the rebel type, guess I was wrong."

"Guess you were."

"But we are still going with my plan." I stated firmly. I knocked on the window separating us from the driver.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked tilting his head slightly towards me to indicate he was listening.

"Yeah, could you drop us off about a block away from our destination?"

"No problem," he said with a shrug. I leaned back, a satisfied smirk on my face.

We were in a housing development with rows of identical homes when our driver stopped. Jared payed the man- when did he even get money? - and we got out of the car. The sun was just sneaking its way behind the horizon so everything was casting long, dark shadows.

I pulled the backpack off my shoulder as the taxi sped away. I took the death note novel out and handed it to Jared, "You should keep this; it would be awkward to explain if anyone here found it. Now," I moved into the shadow between two of the houses, Jared followed me reluctantly.

I turned to him; he drew back his arm and punched me right in the nose, something made a small cracking noise. "Ahh!" I shouted, stumbling backwards, clutching my nose which quickly coated my hand and chin in blood.

"Jared!" I exclaimed, my voice stuffy, as tears leaked from the corners of my eyes because of the stinging pain.

He wiped my blood calmly from his fist, "Well, it was your plan."

"Yea, I know, but you shoulda' given me so warning first, ya asshole," I spat.

"I thought it was best to get it out of the way as quickly as possible."

"Yeah, sure," I grumbled, setting the backpack on the ground. I grabbed the sleeve of my tee shirt and tore a large rip in it, wincing as I scraped my nails across my skin. Then I bent down and scraped some dirt from the ground, rubbing it on my arms and clothing a little. When I figured I looked terrible enough I looked up at Jared, "Whatcha' think? Do I look like a poor girl who got attacked?"

"Yes, but that is probably because that is kind of what you are."

I shrugged, "Fair," I picked up the backpack and stumbled out of the alleyway, Jared trailed after me a little.

"I am not comfortable with letting you go off on your own, especially looking like that," Jared said.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, that is kind of the point isn't it? I'll see ya soon; I have some fun things planned for tomorrow." I grinned and had the distinct feeling that I looked completely insane. Blood dripping from my hands and chin, I wiped the grin from my face and instead practiced the terrified expression that I assume a girl who has just been attacked would have, and I walked down the sidewalk toward Light's house.

 **Review, follow, favorite, or leave without a trace, it is up to you. - I realized that that this is inacurate because even if you just leave there is still a trace of you being here in the statistics record for the story, but I think I will continue to say it anway.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the slightly longer chapter, don't worry, death note characters will be in this story very soon. :)**

 **~Dashing Dapplepath**


	4. Nightmare

**Help! Help! I am beginning to unconsciously take this story seriously! Abort mission! Abort!**

 **Well... whatever, here is chapter 4 for ya.**

 **Chapter 4: Nightmare**

I staggered up onto the front step of Light's house. I knocked frantically on the door, slumping against the frame. Loud footstep pattered through the house as I continued to bang on the door then it was yanked open, causing me to stumble forward. A person grabbed my shoulders to steady me. I glanced up to see an older man with slicked back brown and gray hair staring down at me in shock through a pair of rectangular glasses.

I quickly righted myself, but swayed unsteadily, "I am so sorry, sir, but- but I saw the light on in your windows and-and I thought maybe you could h-he-help-" I broke off with a hiccupping sob and wrapped my arms around myself. I was nailing this performance!

"What happened?" He asked sternly, I was surprised at how calmly he was taking this whole situation.

"I- I was attacked!" I gasped, looking up at him pleadingly.

His eyebrows creased with concern as he glanced around at the empty street, "Come in," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder and gently pushing me through the door. I glanced around when I got in. Three people were standing in the hallway. An older woman with short brown hair stood with a tall, brown haired teenage boy (Light!) and on the staircase, peering at me with wide eyes was a younger girl with long brown hair.

The older woman put her hand over her mouth at the sight of me. "Oh!" she exclaimed. The man who had answered the door led me through the hallway and into the kitchen where he sat me down on one of the wooden chairs around the table.

"Okay, tell me what happened and start from the beginning," I gaped at him for a moment, what kind of person allows an injured girl into their home and then immediately begins to interrogate her?

"Soichiro!" scolded a voice; the woman entered the room, her face creased with worry and annoyance, "I think your questions can wait fifteen minutes while we get this poor girl cleaned up."

He cleared his throat, "Right, of course."

The woman, presumably Light's mom, turned to me, "Come with me, dear, and we will get you washed up, okay?"

I nodded gratefully and got to my feet. All of this blood drying on my skin was getting uncomfortable and gross anyway. I followed her down the hallway, careful to keep my arms wrapped tightly around myself and the fearful expression in my eyes. We arrived at a bathroom and she gave me a washcloth and some soap. Once I had cleaned the blood off of my face and hands she gently felt around the swollen and rapidly bruising bridge of my nose.

She stepped back and smiled at me gently, relief on her face, "It may be really sore for a while, but it is not broken."

"Thank you so much, Mrs…?"

"Yagami," she supplied, "Are you feeling well enough to talk about what happened?"

I adjusted my hat carefully, "Yeah, I think so." She led me back to the kitchen where Light and… Mr. Yagami, I guess, were having a heated conversation. Mrs. Yagami cleared her throat and they stopped their argument immediately. I sat down at the table and so did Mr. Yagami, Light leaned against the wall, his eyes narrowed in thought, while his mother watched from the doorway.

"So, tell me exactly what happened," said Mr. Yagami, leaning forward slightly.

I cleared my throat, here goes nothing. "Well, you see, I was on my way… home- I always take a walk in the evening. I was walking a few blocks away from here when this guy came up beside me. I- I was wary; he asked me where I was headed. I said I was meeting a friend, I thought it would be safer to say that… Then he asked me if I wanted to come home with him instead. I said no and… we were walking along the side of a building and it was dark, he pushed me up against the wall."

I glanced up to see how my story was going over. Mr. Yagami looked angry, Mrs. Yagami looked horrified, and Light had a completely blank expression, I had a feeling that he was evaluating everything that I said. I took a deep breath before continuing.

"I fought back and he hit me, I thought he broke my nose, but apparently not," I cast Mrs. Yagami a grateful glance. She smiled waveringly at me. "I kicked him in the crotch and managed to run away… I didn't know if he was following me or not, your house was the first one I saw with lights on." I concluded my story.

Mr. Yagami sat silently for a moment, "What is your name?"

"Ella-" my mom's advice came to mind, not to tell them my real name, "Ella Matthews," I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"I am so sorry for what happened to you, Ella," said Mr. Yagami, "Is there anything we can do for you? I can give you a lift home if you want or call your parents to come get you?"

Here came the moment of truth, "Well… there is something that I didn't tell you." Everyone looked at me expectantly, "The reason I was out on the street was not because I was taking a walk… it was because that is where I was sleeping. See, I lost my job a few months ago and was evicted from my apartment two days ago, my parents kicked me out a little over a year ago."

"How old are you?" Mr. Yagami asked incredulously.

"Seventeen," I lied, thinking that sounded more believable than sixteen.

"Well, do you have any place you could stay? Some friends who would be willing to take you in?" asked Mrs. Yagami, a hand over her heart.

I shook my head and wiped away a pretend tear, "No, not really."

Mrs. Yagami looked at her husband, "Soichiro, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Mr. Yagami said, he glanced at Light, "How about you get our guest something to drink while your mother and I talk." Then they left the kitchen.

"So, what would you like to drink?" asked Light, moving towards the refrigerator, "We have orange juice, I could make you some tea?"

"Tea sounds nice," I said.

As Light made the tea I watched him thoughtfully. It would be so easy to do what my mom had suggested, the knowledge of those names weighed on my mind; L Lawliet, Nate River, and Mihael Kheel. What was their significance in all of this and why would me giving their names to Light result in him winning and the game ending? Light turned to me and set a tea cup down on the table.

"There you go," he said, "Let it steep for a minute or so and it will be ready."

"Thanks," I said and wrapped my hands around the warm cup.

"You said your name was Ella Matthews?" Light asked me, sitting down in the chair across from me.

"Yup," I said, then I remembered that I should have no idea what his name was, "What is your name?"

"Light Yagami," he said, and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Oh," I said, unsure of how to respond… "So, what are your parents talking about?" Though I was pretty sure I already knew.

He looked at my sharply, "That's not really your business, is it?"

"Oh- yea, erm…"

Light laughed, tipping his head to the side, "I am just kidding around, but I assume you will find out what it is they are talking about very soon anyway." Right on que Mr. and Mrs. Yagami came back into the kitchen.

"Ella, seeing as you have nowhere to go right now," Mrs. Yagami began, glancing at her husband, "We wanted to let you know that you are welcome to stay here for a few days."

I snapped my head up, victory! "Are you sure? I- I mean, I don't want to be a bother –"

"Nonsense," Mr. Yagami waved away my protest, he smiled at me, "As long as you don't mind sleeping on the couch, that is."

I shook my head and stood up to give him a polite little bow of gratitude, that was a thing that people did in Japan, right? "Thank you so much sir, I promise not to be any trouble". When I bowed my hair fell forward and blocked my face from their view. I allowed a small smirk to flit across my face before I straightened up again.

That night I lay on the couch in a pair of borrowed sweats and a t-shirt that had come from Light's younger sister, who I had learned was named Sayu. I was worried about my hat falling off while I slept, so I had scrounged some bobby pins from the bathroom to secure it in place. I figured them thinking I was a weirdo who slept with her hat on was better than them knowing that I had cat ears.

Once I was sure that everyone was asleep, or at least that they were done moving around for the night I flipped open my laptop. There were a couple new messages from my mom.

"What is taking so long?"

"You should be out by now, I forgot to tell you that game time moves more quickly than real life time. A month in the game is equivalent to a day in the real world, so you have no excuse to not be out yet!"

"Elle, please respond."

After a quick twist of guilt for making her worry my heart soared. If one month in the game was the equivalent to one day in the real world then that meant I didn't have two days before my mom came in here after me, I had two months! I grinned, my fingers hovered over the keyboard, unsure what I should tell my mom.

In the end I didn't tell her anything. I deleted the conversation ( wouldn't want anyone here to read that) and turned off the computer, sliding it back in the backpack. It took a while, but I eventually fell asleep, and that was when the nightmare began.

 _I stood in the middle of the street, twisted buildings of pure glass reared up, stretching endlessly to the colorless sky. It was a desolate scene, everything was in grayscale and there were no cars, no trees, no advertisements in the windows. Just the shadowy forms of featureless people; sitting on the sidewalk, standing motionless in the road, hovering next to the buildings. I knew that I looked just like them, motionless, featureless, and colorless_

 _Then my mother appeared, my sister following close behind her, they walked down the street towards me, bright and colorful. Each step they took bled color, small, yellow flowers and green weeds popped up from the concrete road. Mom reached out a hand toward me. I reached out for her too, but then her and my sister's faces twisted up in agony, blood bubbled from their eyes and lips, leaked from their ears. Their eyes began to boil and drip out of their heads as they withered to the ground._

 _I ran towards them but I didn't seem to be moving, I tried to cry out, but I made no noise, they crumpled to the ground, blood poured from them. I screamed silently as all of the other people around me crumpled to the ground as well, their blurry forms gushing excessive amounts of thick, metallic blood. Suddenly I was floating above the scene and I could see that blood had filled the streets of the city and they formed a large, gothic letter L._

I woke up screaming, the lights were on and Mrs. Yagami was shaking me by the shoulders, sweat caused Sayu's t-shirt to cling to my body. Mr. Yagami stood behind his wife, Light and Sayu hovered in the doorway, looking at me with wide eyes. My chest heaved as I struggled out of the blanket that trapped my legs.

"Ella!" Mrs. Yagami said firmly, her hands still on my shoulders, "Ella, calm down." I jerked myself from her grip and sprang to my feet, dashing out the door, shoving Light and Sayu aside as I ran out the front door. "Ella!" I heard someone call after me, but I kept running.

Once I rounded a corner and was no longer in view of their house I ducked into an alleyway and leaned against the wall, struggling to get my breathing under control.

Focus on other things, Ella, I told myself. Don't think about the dream, think about… about how cold your feet are. I wiggled my bare toes against the rough, dirty pavement. Don't think about what happened to them- why would I when my hand hurts so much? I thought as I gouged my finger nails into my palms. Don't think about their eyes boiling from their sockets-

"Ella?" my eyes snapped open to see Jared walking towards me.

"Jared, not now I-"

"Shut up, Ella," he said, I froze in surprise, "I heard what some of your plans were, your bucket list, I might call it, and I thought maybe now would be a good time to check one of those boxes." He walked towards me.

I frowned, "Hey, if you are going to kiss me I don't think it really counts, you being a computer program and all…"

Jared scoffed and held a bundle of dark fabric out to me along with a pair of tennis shoes. "That was not what I was talking about."

I picked up something from the top of the pile, it was a black ski mask, little holes had been cut in the top of it for my ears. I took the rest of the black clothing and looked up at him in shock, he grinned evilly and flipped up the flipped up the hood on his own bulky black sweatshirt.

I wiped the blood off my palm and grinned back at him, my fear turning irrationally to anger, "Perfect," I growled, "Let's do this."

 **Hope you liked this chapter... it was a little bit darker I suppose, I think the next chapter will probably be a little more light hearted, though who is to tell.**

 **Just by the way, I have been uploading at the speed of light on this story because it is currently the weekend, don't expect me to keep up this pace... because it is just not going to happen. (Not that you really care, I just thought I would mention it)**

 **Review, favorite, follow, or leave without a trace, it is up to you.**

 **~Dangerous Dapplepath**


	5. Heist

**Guys, are you proud of me? I wrote an actual description for this fanfiction. Now all I need to do is make a cover image that is actually related in some way… and come up with a title. I know that it seemed like I was trying to do something purposeful with my crappy title an lackluster description, but to be honest I was just too lazy to come up with something that made sense.**

 **Welcome to Chapter 5!**

 **Chapter 5: Heist**

I stared out of the shadows of the alley at the dimly lit store across the street. I was wearing the black ski mask and a large, bulky black hoodie with the hood pulled up to cover my ears. I glanced back at Jared, he looked so badass! I wondered if I looked that cool.

"Not even close," his voice was muffled by the mask.

"I will have to work on that then," I joked, hoisting the crowbar onto my shoulder, I grinned, my ears perking up excitedly under the hood. I looked around, no one was in sight, and I slipped across the street and into the alleyway across from us. Jared followed me and pulled out a lock picking kit. I regarded him with surprise as he expertly picked the lock, the door swung open.

"We gotta' act fast now," I said, sprinting into the building, adrenaline coursing through my veins, knowing from all my years watching TV that some sort of silent alarm must have been triggered by now.

Dim light filtered into the store from the street lamps outside, reflecting on the glass cases and making their contents glitter invitingly. I lifted the crowbar and brought it down with all the force I could muster on the glass.

"Crash!" The noise resounded through the store, I pulled the bag from my shoulder and began scooping out the jewelry with my gloved hand. I was about to move to the next case when I heard sirens in the distance.

"We need to go now!" Jared shouted.

I laughed, my head thrown back, I cackled as the sirens got closer. I wielded my crowbar and swung it at another case, gathering the sparkling treasure from that one as well. Jared grabbed my shoulder violently, ready to haul me away from the scene by force when I spun around and sprinted for the door, "Now we run!" I called over my shoulder.

I hurtled down the alleyway, the police were so close now that I could hear their shouts and see the red from the cars flashing on the buildings. Jared and I dashed between buildings, dodging police when we saw them, my breathing came fast and I was covered in sweat under my thick hoodie, the bag of jewelry clinked as I ran, getting heavy on my shoulder.

But do you know what? I had never felt better in my life.

I don't know if we were just extremely lucky, or if somehow the game was set up to make things easier for us, but we got away. Jared and I pulled off our ski masks and hoodies and stuffed them in the bag with the jewelry. I slid my hat back on and we walked out onto the street, looking like just a couple of teenagers on their way home after a late night.

Jared kept glancing around, nervous, " We should stash this stuff somewhere…" he trailed off.

I shrugged and handed him the bag, "For now it is up to you, I need to head back to the Yagami's and apologize." We were walking through a residential area now, on my way back to their house. I felt like I was floating, all of the fear and anger was gone now. Not going home was the best decision that I had ever made.

I glanced around to make sure, making sure that no one was eavesdropping, "Hey Jared, what made you decide to do that for me? You always came across as a goody-two-shoes, despite all appearances," I said, referencing his emo-goth style.

"I don't really know," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and letting his hair fall in front of his face, "I am pretty sure that I just kind of become whatever it is that the person I am with needs at the time or whatever they think about the most. I don't know whether it is something in my programing or just a result of being able to see your thoughts." He shrugged.

"So…" I tipped my head to the side, "What kind of person were you when you used to be in this game with my mom?"

"Gay," he said.

"Oh, yea-" I registered what he had said and choked on my own spit, stopping in my tracks. "Excuse me?"

Jared stopped a few moments after me, he glanced over his shoulder at me, chuckling. His emerald eyes glittered in the half light of the sun just peeking up over the horizon. "I told you that I also seem to become what the person thinks about a lot. Your mom had this weird thing where she was obsessed with 'shipping' guys together, her thoughts-"

"No, no, I don't need to know this," I interrupted him, grimacing. He shrugged, still grinning.

"Well, I am going to find a place to stash this stuff," he said, "You should get back to the Yagami's." He started walking again.

See ya later. I thought, not wanting to call after him.

He raised a hand without turning around, "Good luck."

I got to the Yagami's front porch and hesitated, my hand raised to knock. What was I going to say? They probably thought that I was crazy now with the way that I had acted… would they even take me back? Apparently I hesitated too long because the door was pulled open swiftly and there stood Mrs. Yagami.

"Look," I began, intending to apologize when she pulled me into a tight hug. "Oh!" I exclaimed in surprise. She let up on the hug and held me at arm's length , studying my face.

"Thank god you are okay," she said and stepped to the side to let me in. I walked in hesitantly. Why did she care? I frowned, she hardly even knew me.

"You're not mad?"

"Well, you gave us all a bit of a shock, but of course I am not mad," she smiled sympathetically, "I don't know what your nightmare was about, but with the day you had I can't really blame you for overreacting a bit."

"Oh," I said. My eyes got a little misty… because I was tired, okay? I am not some sort of wimp… or maybe I was. Her motherly behavior made me feel guilty for a moment. I shook the emotion away, wishing that I was still smashing stuff with my crowbar. "Where are the others?" I asked, referring to Light, Sayu, and Soichiro.

"They went to bed," she said and glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 5:00 am, "And I think that that is what you should do as well."

"Could I get a shower quick?" I asked.

"Sure, I will get you a towel."

I stood in the shower, the warm water relaxing my body in places I didn't know could get tense. My black hair plastered to my neck and shoulders, my ears folded down and back so that water wouldn't pool in them. So, I was in a good mood and I didn't want to think about the dream, but it was there, prodding at the back of my mind. I shoved it away and instead thought about nothing.

People are always saying that it is impossible for them to not be thinking about something. They say that if they try to not think about anything that they end up thinking about… not thinking. But I am perfectly capable of having absolutely nothing in my head for long periods of time. Maybe being able to not think about anything means I have an inactive mind, but I don't really care.

When I figured that I had used up way to much hot water I shut it off and dried myself off. The mirror was steamed up so I wiped a small circle to see my face, I grinned and cleared off little triangles at the top of the circle for my ears. On the rim of the sink sat someone's eyeliner. Huh, I thought, and picked it up, then I traced a skeleton grin on my face, extending the line of the sides of my mouth. I set the eyeliner down and surveyed my handy work… wait, why had I done that? I grabbed some toilet paper and quickly wiped it off with some water.

I slipped into my borrowed clothes, thank goodness there was a hoodie; I couldn't imagine wearing a hat on wet hair and ears. Ick. I went ahead and got dressed then a knock sounded on the door, "You about done in there?" asked an annoyed Light. I flipped the hood up.

"Yeah, I'm done, sorry 'bout taking so long." I opened the door.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were Sayu," he frowned.

"Er, it's fine," I slipped past him. Glancing back a little over my shoulder, his narrowed eyes followed me and a chill went down my neck. I hid my shiver when something occurred to me, I didn't even know if Light was the hero or the villain in this story.

I entered the kitchen, Sayu and Mr. Yagami were eating breakfast, "Good morning, sir," I said politely, "I apologize for the disturbance last night. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

Mr. Yagami waved his hand tiredly, "S'fine," he said, getting to his feet and putting his cereal bowl in the sink, "I am heading out to work." He adjusted his coat and walked out, leaving me with Sayu. My eyes closed as I yawned hugely, I hadn't realized how tired I was!

"I think I am going to try and sleep a little," I said to Sayu and started towards the living room.

"Hold up, Ella, right?" she called. I resisted groaning, I just wanted to get some sleep, couldn't whatever this was wait?

"Yeah?'

"I don't figure you will get much sleep in the living room. You can sleep in my room, I have school today so I am not going to be around…"

"Oh, really?" A real bed sounded heavenly right now, under my hood my ears perked up excitedly at the thought.

Sayu was looking at my head in confusion. Shoot! My ears must have moved the hood, stupid things!

"Um, yeah, I have to get going here, but my room is at the first one on the left at the top of the stairs." Sayu stood up and set her bowl in the sink as well.

"Thanks Sayu," I said and hauled myself up the stairs.

First door on the right, I opened the door, a little piece of paper fluttered to the ground, I scooched it to the side with my toe. I looked around… this sure didn't look like it would be Sayu's room. Maybe she had said first door on the left? I carefully closed the door and went to the other room. Sure enough this was definitely the place, I winced slightly at the sheer amount of pink and collapsed onto the bed, curling up on top of the covers and falling into a deep sleep.

 **Chapta five! Sorry if this seems to be moving really slowly... Actually I am not really that sorry, I do have a plan for where I am going with this story though.**

 **So, I shared this fanfiction with one of my friends in real life, I don't know if she decided to keep up with the chapters that I am posting since showing it to her... but if you are reading this right now... perhaps stop? I know, I know, I showed it to you in the first place... but there is something really uncomfortable about someone I know IRL reading this. I probably just made it more weird by directly adressing the issue, didn't I, my sweet strawberry prince? :P**

 **Follow, favorite, review, or leave without a trace, it is up to you.**

 **~Dangerous Dapplepath**


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